Now, get fastest live World Twenty20 cricket updates on ICC's new digital platforms

Picture source: ThinkStockWith the World Twenty20 cricket tournament beginning today, action is going to be not just on television sets, but on digital platforms as well. For International Cricket Council, the hub of all of the digital activities, is a brand new official #WT20 website on www.icccricket. com.

The website has been designed as 'mobile first' for the first time and features a new official ICC Match Centre, which will have the fastest live scores available anywhere online. It will offer #WT20 social media content and provide real-time statistics, including historical data from previous events for match analysis. The Match Centre will be available also on the official tournament app.

While Twitter is launching new features like Twitter Trumpcards, new Twitter emojis to make the experience fun and interesting for fans besides getting the ICC to use Vine and Periscope for behindthe-scenes action, on Facebook, fans of all 16 participating countries will be able to add a profile frame to their picture to show their support for their team, a first for a world cup in any sport on the platform.

There will be Facebook Live coverage of the press conferences from over 50 matches during the tournament. Fans will also be given the chance to share their favourite moments of the tournament through composer prompts directly onto Facebook and there will be an exclusive cricket sticker pack which can be used on Facebook or Messenger.

"This time, we will do a Periscope streaming from the commentary box and fans can see the commentators getting ready and coming on air. This could happen before, during or after the match. Vine will have six second looping videos of players and behind the scenes activities. When users tweet with the hashtag askcaptain, their questions will be broadcast live after every match. We're trying to provide a seamless online on ground experience," said Anish Madani, head of sports partnerships at Twitter India.

On Instagram, fans will be able to see the #WT20Super-Heroes with imagery designed up for some of the top cricketers in the world, as 60 players in the tournament come into focus as they battle. each other on Instagram to see who the most popular players are.

Ahmed Naqvi, chief executive at digital and social media agency Gozoop, said a lot of brands are engaging in programmatic buying of digital media around the T20 World Cup. Programmatic buying is real-time buying backed by smart data and analytics, as opposed to just banner buying.

Taranjeet Singh, business head at Twitter India, said the number of brands advertising on the platform for the upcoming cricket season has increased by nearly 50% in comparison to last year. "We expect the momentum to grow further as the season progresses. On a year-on-year basis, there has been a 91% increase in mentions of cricket on Twitter in India — 38% of cricket fans on Twitter are actively looking out for match promotions or competitions from sponsors," he added.